Fix-it Friday: My Mom

When I was young, my mom didn't know how to say "no". I guess she did, but typically if she was asked to do something, lead something, or teach something, she said yes. Mom went back to college to complete her degree when I was in high school and so she began to say "no".

You may be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with Fix-it Friday?" I recently learned that she still doesn't know how to say "no" . . . . at least not to her daughter. What follows (in no particular order) is a small portion of what my mom did in the two and a half weeks she was out for Jo's birth.

Our downstairs bathroom shower had never been used before Mom came out - she scrubbed the whole thing inside and out.

She also re-caulked the entire base of the shower, which we found was not installed properly. So, there is still a small leak, but we think it's coming from under the shower near the drain. Hopefully we can replace the whole thing at some point, but I'm glad it works for now. Mom, Dad, Ken, and my in-laws have all gotten to use it over the last month or so.

We had no towel bars in the bathroom either, so we replaced/added all new hardware on the walls. Here's the new toilet paper holder.

Here's the new towel bar over the toilet. (There was a random ring hanging here - not too useful.)

A new ring towel holder by the sink (replaced a towel bar) - much easier for Ephraim to use - he can even hang up the towel himself!

A new towel bar - holds two bath towels comfortably. Now we easily have room for towels for three guests at a time, which is typically the max that we have. There is also a hook on the back of the door (I forgot to take a picture.) which I don't regularly use, but is nice for guests.

One of my mom's talents is calligraphy. She filled out Jo's Baptismal Certificate (which my darling husband has still not signed). She will also fill out our Sponsor Certificates, but we have yet to locate them since Ed's office got remodeled.

A simple fix, but Ed wanted to wear this coat and a button was missing. Mom sewed it right back on for him. There is presently a coat very similar to this sitting behind me next to a button and thread. I have yet to replace said button . . . . but I have removed the damaged thread.

This bonnet belonged to my mom and I wore it as a baby as well. It had some stains on it and so Mom has been trying to clean it since she located it awhile back. It used to be a much darker turquoise-green, but with all the washing and bleaching, it has now faded to a very pale mint color. The lining on the inside was shredded, so Mom replaced it and hand-sewed it all back together including new ribbon to tie it on.

This may not look like anything much, but it's an ironing board. I needed to have it so that I can iron things that I'm sewing. It got used for other things too. For instance, Ed wanted to wear one of his chasubles for Reformation Sunday, so instead of getting it dry cleaned and pressed, my mom ironed it so it would be ready for church. (There's a picture of Ed in it down below.)

A few years back, Mom made these ponchos for my nephews. I absolutely love them! However, I didn't like the hoods that were a part of them. The hood made it difficult to put on/take off the poncho and it was a little small and tended to allow their ears to get cold, so we used a hat anyway.

Can you find the husband in this picture? He was having too much fun!

This is a better picture of the new collar that Mom fashioned after she removed the hood. I also have the leftover hood material and may be able to make a matching hat for the kids.

Mom is also making a new, girly poncho for Tabi - the first of her current projects that went home with her.

Here's the back of Ephraim's poncho.

And, here's the front - what a cutie!

Three of the nine bibs Mom made (I had previously made one). I have 10 bibs now and material to make about 40 more - these last me about two days - three if I can manage to use them for more than one meal. There are four pink bibs, four orange bibs, one purple bib and one pink/orange/brown bib. Most of the time Ephraim asks for a pink bib and Tabi asks for an orange one. They crack me up!

A week after Jo was born, I finally got around to cutting Ephraim's hair - he has needed it for a long time! I can do the buzzing part, but I have a hard time trimming around his ears, especially since he doesn't listen to the "don't move" part. I'm afraid I'm going to lop off an ear! So, Mom to the rescue - she trimmed around his ears for me!

Found this material at the thrift store for a couple of bucks. There was enough material to make two pillow cases. One side has Snoopy and the other has Charlie Brown. Ephraim loves it and it was a nice addition to his big boy bed. Mom made these in just a few minutes! (I hope someday I can do the same.)

The slip of my baptismal gown has the name of each baby baptized in it embroidered on it along with the date of the baptism. Johanna is the fourth baby baptized in the gown. Mom has embroidered all of the names . . . .

I made this banner before Ephraim was born for the church to use for baptisms. Each baby baptized gets the small banner on the right to keep as a remembrance of their baptism. The evening Jo and I came home from the hospital, Mom and I were tracing, cutting, and glueing Johanna's name on her little banner for her baptism the next morning.

Ephraim finally got curtains in his room thanks to Nana! The material has been sitting in the sewing room for over a month (at least), but the only thing I managed to do was wash it. Mom made all six panels with only a tiny bit of assistance from me.

I, however, did make the ties to hold back the curtains - I even punched eyelets into them and screwed the cup hooks into the wall. :-) Go me!

One big request I had was a new Boppy pillow cover. I wanted it to be soft and girly. We bought some of the softest material. Mom made this with no pattern. She just . . . . . made it!

Tabi couldn't stop stroking the material in the store. In order to keep Tabi from thinking that the pillow was hers, Mom used the leftover material to make a blanket for Tabi. She picked the pink side for her blankie.

That meant Johanna got the brown side for hers!

Projects that she brought with when she came: stained glass butterfly for Jo's baptism, knitted socks for my birthday (with matching socks for Tabi), crocheted shoes for Jo's baptism, bonnet for Jo's baptism

Other projects while here: repairing Ed's pants, tie, a few of Tabi's outfits, one of Ephraim's sheets, and more

Current projects: the aforementioned poncho for Tabi, Christmas dresses for both girls, Jo's Christmas stocking (70+ hours into it so far), cloth books for Jo for Christmas, repair a stained glass rainbow/dove we found in a box (done and returned to me), a future larger poncho for Tabi (when Jo's big enough to get the other one in about a year)

Needless to say, with all of these projects, she was a very busy lady while she was here. And somehow, she managed to find time to play with two very rambunctious toddlers and cuddle a sweet newborn as well as help me through our third labor and delivery (not in that order).

This is only a tiny portion of the 31+ years of love she has shown me in a million different ways.

To put it simply, my mom amazes me! Love you Mom!! Thanks for all you do!!